


Uncanny X-men

by Naphthalim



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:47:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29296152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naphthalim/pseuds/Naphthalim
Summary: Before Hickman's Dawn of X relaunch occurred, I imagined doing a soft relaunch of the X-men with Astonishing X-men and Uncanny X-men, linked titles that could be read separately.





	Uncanny X-men

Colossus was metal and looming large. There were a pair of children under his ridiculously wide shoulders. One of them was a strange shade of red, almost purple. The other one appeared to be a dark-skinned black boy with three tentacles hanging from his jaw. The children were small enough that a normal man would have been able to step between them and the men firing on them, but Colossus was a Russian bodybuilder, easily able to dwarf most men. Bullets bounced off his back as Archangel soared in from above. His metal wings caught the sunlight and peppered the men firing on Colossus with jagged metal feathers. Each one coated with enough nero-toxins to knock the men out cold. 

Psylocke was in the shadow, psychic butterfly floating above her head. While the purple haired British woman was a trained ninja and could easily have entered the facility without anyone knowing, the technology was cutting edge, and that was Forge’s department. A vet who had created his own cybernetics, gifted with the ability to create anything he needed to make, Forge was in a lab. He said, “There’s not a trace left in the system. We’ve shut them down, but from these records she should have at least four updated suits, including Nanny’s and the Orphan Makers.” 

Cyclops was on a rooftop watching the area. His finger instinctively lifted up towards his visor, even though they were connected by Psylocke and not speaking through a com link. Warpath was in a nearby apartment building. He had tossed the place relying on his heightened senses, his tactical training to help them find the clues they needed. Polaris was sitting at a computer next to him. She wasn’t a tracker, but Cyclops always wanted more than one way of thinking in an environment if he could get one. Polaris was a hyper capable woman under a cascade of green hair. She felt it was best to check the electronic trail of those who lived in the house, while her teammate sniffed around and checked their home for clues. “Oh, oh crap,” she let out. Warpath looked over her shoulder. She was looking at the phone of the couple they had knocked out earlier. 

After looking at the phone something had clicked. “I know why Nanny and the Orphan maker came through here. The couple who lives here. The husband’s brother moved in recently. He works at a juvenile detention center for mutants known as ‘The Yard.’ With her mind powers, she could easily get whatever information she needed about the facility out of him.” With an extra pair of suits and the upgrades Nanny and the Orphan maker had made to their own suits, Cyclops was certain they were going recruiting. This was possibly the worst time for it. While it had been a year since the last major X event, the government had come crashing down on mutants. Policing had become almost draconian. Sentencing became harsher. Even peaceful mutants were being monitored and forced to register their powers. 

Jean, his ex-wife, and the gold team were fighting against the changes politically. Jean had grown into quite the public figure. Their mutual friends Dazzler and Beast were also fighting that good fight, while maintaining their superhero roles as the X Men Gold team. Even Cyclops’ brother Havok had chosen to leave behind the sorts of actions that had once made him a wanted man and followed Jean trying to be there for the mutant people while supporting a human government that despised them and resisted their assistance. Cyclops knew the appeal of the dream Jean chased. The two of them were raised under the banner of Professor Xavier who was convinced early on that a group of mutant heroes would be able to show the world the best of both mutants and humanity. He believed that in doing so, both groups would come to realize they were one people and live in peace. 

Many years had passed since then, and despite being the team’s first leader, the one groomed to take over for the Professor, Cyclops only saw a world growing colder and further away from Xavier’s dream. The actions of the past had painted Cyclops as a hero, a villain, the leader of heroes and the father of a nation. When the new registration laws were passed, no one was certain where Cyclops would fall. Everyone knew he’d do whatever he felt he needed to protect his people, but what did that mean? To Cyclops it meant remaining on the ground. Protecting his people had nothing to do with groveling before world councils and smiling for cameras. It meant stopping hooligans with guns from killing two small children, and making sure they made it home safe. It meant setting up his school in a state that refused to enforce the national mutant registration laws. His focus was the people, making sure they had jobs and opportunities and safety. Unfortunately, having one mutant, no matter how misguided, show up to “The Yard” and cracking the prison open was the sort of news coverage that would have ended in the deaths of many innocent mutants. Events like that left law enforcement, and armed civilians a bit too jittery. 

Cyclops pulled the team together and had the youngest member of his team, Pixie teleport them just outside of the “The Yard.” While Cyclops’ X-men, who were referred to as the Blue Team by those who needed to create separation between his work and Jean’s weren’t outlaws, they were outspoken. Their political stances had put them in hot water with regular law enforcement and strained many relations with other super teams. “Psylocke, I want you and Pixie to enter “The Yard” quietly, just in case Nanny’s gotten more subtle than we remember. Polaris, Archangel, keep up aerial surveillance. Forge I want you to be ready to take over ‘The Yard’s’ security and get us out of there if things go sideways. Warpath, keep eyes out for anything or anyone who doesn’t belong here. Colossus, you’re with me. If things go south, we’re the hammer,” Cyclops told the team upon their arrival. Between Pixie’s magical powers, Psylocke’s ninja prowess and her psychic abilities, he was certain that no one would know their powers would exist. 

Nanny’s ship was on it’s way towards “The Yard.” Still in the clouds, it fired a set of rockets, that Polaris easily sent firing back into the ship, taking out it’s large cannon on the bottom. Many mutants with control over the natural forces of the earth learned subtle ways to manipulate their abilities. Polaris was not that sort of person. She was powerful and strong. Child of one of the most frightening men on the planet, she was the daughter of Magneto. Her every action demanded she be feared or respected. When she bent the magnetism of the earth to her will, it was in waves of force that could easily crush any aggressor, or, when she was feeling playful, send their own attacks back at them. Realizing they’ve been spotted, 

Nanny turned on the outer force field. It didn’t stop Polaris from exerting her force over the ship, but it did seem to make things harder for her. Nanny, knowing there was no way the X-men would allow anything to happen to the civilians in the area, especially the mutants in the facility below, cut her engines and let her ship freefall towards “The Yard.” With great strain Polaris caught the vessel before it crashed into the building. The stress of suddenly catching the vessel out of free fall was a little too much and her eyes fluttered. Archangel swooped in and caught her as below, Nanny cut her engines on, while the small detention center began firing on her ship. 

Before his team could converge on the vessel, Jean Grey’s Gold team was on the scene. Several of them were on the ground charging the ship. Storm took to the air. Cyclops called his team back. Not only did he want to make sure there was no fighting between the teams, he wanted to make sure that the Gold team never knew they were there. As they all went to regather, Nanny’s ship crashed hard into the parking lot. It felt as if they had just ridden out the world’s fastest earthquake. “The commotion outside,” Psylocke communicated over the mind link, “It knocked out the power dampeners in East containment. The kids are starting to riot.” Each child in that detention center had some sort of special ability and some history of criminal activity. While some may be content to hide and bide there time, some of those inside were living weapons. The only thing protecting the neighborhood from their rage had been the ‘power dampeners.’ 

Now an entire wing of the building, was without this technology. Cyclops had Pixie teleport the rest of their team into the prison yard just outside of that wing. If anyone could contain the situation peacefully it was his team. Warpath had gotten information on how a facility like “The Yard” would handle this situation. Psylocke quickly made sure that everyone on the team knew. The officers were given power suits and a pair of weapons. One was full of rubber bullets. It was meant to take down the weaker children safely. The next weapon was much more lethal and would be fired on the rest. They were in the middle of a civilian area, and until they were safely back in their cells they were not considered children, but violent offenders. Without Cyclops’ team, this place was going to erupt into open war, police officers and children, all fighting for their lives. Forge, locked the armored officers out of the east wing as Psylocke broadcasted Cyclops’ warning into their minds: “This is Cyclops, leader of the X-men. The officers are right outside this area, and the walls are still in place. No matter how badly you wish to leave, now is not that time. That crash has been handled. Please, please, return to your cells peacefully, and we can make sure no one gets hurt today.

”Most of the children heard his words and returned to their cells. Most of them weren’t hardened terrorists. Many were just scared youths who ended up in bad situations, or had powers they lost control of in terrible moments that were now defining their lives. Some did come out violently though. While it wasn’t many, it was enough that Cyclops’ team had to hop into action.Those were the ones who found themselves blasted back by the concussive blasts that erupt from Cyclops’ eyes, hit by the showered rain of Archangel’s blades, were knocked unconscious by Colossus’ massive fists, were beaten unconscious by the warrior ferocity of Warpath, taken down by the martial arts prowess of Psylocke, or literally reclaimed by their cells at the commands of Polaris. Pixie spent most of her time getting the injured and unconscious safely into their cells, while Forge continued controlling the facility making sure that any attempts the officers made to enter was thwarted before they finished. The riot was put down quickly, but the police had been called the moment Nanny’s ship came out of the sky and now they were outside ready to raid the center. This section was right next to the yard outside and there was nothing Forge could do to prevent that area from filling up with armed officers.

Before they could leave, the power dampeners switched back on. The X-men were instantly left depowered. No longer were they a group of powerful superheroes. Now they were just a well-trained group of strange looking people. The doors flew open, police and officers assuming they had the edge. Cyclops and his team had been in this situation before. In the past they tried to talk their way out. That led to incarcerations without formal charges. They were not going that rout again.Forge, who was always armed, laid down a cover fire of rubber bullets. Some officers were knocked down, others ducked. It was enough for a crew of highly trained warriors like the X-men to get into the open yard, where their powers returned. Cyclops used his eye blasts to knock back the guards far enough that combat would not be necessary. He regretted seeing that blast in the sky. It was only moments before the Gold team would show up to assist the police. There had been no casualties so far. He wanted to get out without hurting anyone. That possibility seemed to be decreasing with every second they remained. Polaris crushed the device that would extend the power dampeners into the yard they were in, as Jean’s team came down into the yard. It had been four months since the two teams had battled it out on live television. Cyclops wanted to tell her but knew the dampeners would be on before she listened. With a nod towards Pixie, she teleported them away.


End file.
